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I totally get that a five pound gain messes with your head. My weight fluctuates by like 10 pounds through out each cycle with the chemo. I shoots up almost immediately on treatment day and then goes up and down until it gets mostly out of my system. Since I am still in the honeymoon period from my surgery and don’t really even want to eat apart from cravings it is sooooo hard to not just starve myself when I see the numbers go up. I know it’s not the exact same as your situation but I imagine the mental shock of the number is very similar. Hang in there. You should be able to get back to the majority of your routine soon and be back to your old self before you know it. I will probably be on here asking what worked for you this summer and fall because Im having a bilateral mastectomy with expanders in early May and then a reconstruction with implants planned after radiation. Although I’m trying to get in for a consult with that Dr to find out about that fat transfer option. Im not sure if its new or not but the surgeon I met with did not offer that option. Did your surgeon tell you to get routine MRI’s to monitor for leaks. (You said you got silicone, right?). I’m sure your surgeon went over the risks with implants in general but there is something I just learned about the other day from a lady at my craft group called Breast Implant Illness that’s worth looking into. It’s not a formal medical diagnosis but it’s a collection of issues that people commonly have after implants that often go away immediately once they are removed. There is the surgeon in Florida that she is going to that people go to from all around the world just to have their implants removed and he can do this procedure if you want them replaced where they transfer a fat from another area of your body. I am trying to get into him to see if it’s possible for me to have that instead of an implant for my reconstruction. They are very selective with who they give appointments to, though. I guess his surgeries are booked like a year out Anyways, not to scare you but there are also lots of more researched issues that a silicone leak can cause as well to include a very rare type of cancer even. I am not sure how much your surgeon went over all of that with you but to me it’s definitely worth being aware of and monitoring routinely. Your surgeon should be able to tell you how often to scan and what to watch for just to be safe. Best of luck with your recovery and I can’t wait to hear about your being all healed up and getting to finally take them girls out on the town. 😂

@SpartanMaker PS= plastic surgery, being non-active my weight has gone up but the macros you suggested I started yesterday and I felt satisfied with focusing on Whole Foods, mostly protein and it worked out. My issue is that working out I felt leaner, and didn’t have bloat, even if I didn’t have a “perfect” day or “binged” on some sweets. I felt like I created a terrible habit and now I am trying to get back in the mindset where I was when I started this journey. You have given me awesome advice! Thank you for giving me some of your wealth of knowledge! @ShoppGirl im sure some of it is inflammation, I notice that if I wait to weigh myself later in the morning I’m weigh less than right in the morning. I figured that the implants weighed a couple of pounds but dang seeing me be 5-7lbs heavier is messing with my head. At first I told myself it’s okay if I gained a little I was getting too thin, now I’m like AHHHH nooooo I can’t. No one truly knows these feelings and mental strain this is if they were not obese at one time. I try not to talk about these feelings to anyone but this platform because I always get “you look fine, why are you worried, your overthinking” thank you for chiming in, I appreciate your intake!!

Still on fluids for a few more days, counting down til Thursday! Yesterday we went for a two hour drive to see some friends, had lunch out with them, there was pizza, hot chips with gravy, hubby had fish and chips on the table it didn'tworry me at all the others eating their yummy lunches! Luckily they had a clear wanton soup dish, so I had that and hubster got the wontons 😂 Today I made a darker version at home with added protein powder and fibre ☺️ Deeeeeelish!!

I never* used them. My plan called for 3 meals per day, each containing 20+ grams of protein through meat (usually). Days 1 - 30 post-op were the same plan pureed. Day 31 forward not pureed any longer. How much protein, of what sort, and how often, is very much a personal decision in consultation with your medical team. Good luck, Tek * Never in normal times. However, when I was binge running, ramping up for marathons, my plan increased from 3 meals per day, to 4, then 5, then 6, then 6 + a protein drink. I fealt like I was eating all day long. I hated it.

I am another fan of eating mostly food made from scratch as soon as you can post op, but honestly if you can't meet your protein goals that way then shakes are one convenient way to do it that doesn't require much mindwork or second guessing!

Some programs want their patients to avoid them as soon as possible - within the first few months - on the premise that they don't want their patients drinking calories and would rather they work with solid food instead. Most programs don't care, but there is some merit to the liquid vs. solid argument, at least for a time. Many, OTOH, as we see above, still use them long term, often as a convenience. I still use them - my own blend, as with most things - as an exercise recovery drink after the gym. My wife uses some of the powder in the regular smoothie that she makes (20 years post op) in which she also includes some of the added supplements that she still needs (for her DS,) So, if you can get away without them and still get the requisite protein, and object to drinking them, then great - you can do away with them. If you like them and they still provide some benefit or convenience, there's little reason not to continue using them.

@AmberFL I must have missed that you are recovering from surgery. While I probably wouldn't recommend a significant fat loss diet while healing, I'd also be a bit cautious about using Google AI recommendations. The idea that you need 15-20 calories per pound of current body weight to heal just doesn't pass the smell test. If this were true, none of us would have properly healed from our bariatric surgery. Keep in mind that 15-20 pounds for you right now would be roughly 2500 to 3400 calories. At your starting weight, that would have been about 4500 to almost 6000 calories a day! Looking through the scientific literature, I couldn't find a single reference that this level of calories was needed to promote healing after surgery. There were some references to additional calories being helpful in the event of significant wounds, thus your calorie needs may be somewhat higher for more involved surgeries vs simple ones. I apologise, but I have no idea what "PS surgery" is, so that doesn't really help narrow things down. I think my recommendation would be to base this more on feel. If you are feeling really rundown, that's probably a good indication you may need to up your calories. You're always going to feel somewhat tired after any major surgery, so I'm talking about feeling excessively tired. If you do feel the need to add more, my recommendations above regarding macros still stand. We do know that wound healing requires adequate protein (thus 1.6g/kg is a good minimum target). We also want to make sure you're getting adequate essential fats, so shooting for a minimum of 50g is still good advice. If you are more like 70 to 80g, especially when not on a fat loss diet, that's just fine. I wouldn't necessarily recommend going much higher that that on fats because if you do, if will mean you would likely be subtracting calories from carbs. Good whole food sources of carbs like whole grains, vegetables and fruit have tons of nutritive value that you really shouldn't be skipping right now. In short, protein first, essential fats next, and carbs for the rest of the diet.

Okay so I was curious to know exactly how much more our bodies burn while we are healing so I asked Google and this is copied from AI response. Basically if we need more calories to maintain as your healing you really may be good by just cutting back a tad on the extra Carbs since your carbs were much higher due to a very high level of activity, which you’re not sustaining but honestly if I was you I would Just wait until your through this to worry about losing you could take even longer to get back on track if you try to lose now “Yes, your body burns more calories during the healing process after surgery. This is because your body's metabolism increases to help heal the incisions, fight pain, and prevent infection. Explanation Hyper-metabolic state After surgery, your body enters a hyper-metabolic state, which means your metabolism increases. This causes your body to break down muscle protein, fat tissue, and neurotransmitters to provide energy for healing. Calorie needs During the healing process, you should consume more calories than normal. A general rule of thumb is to consume 15–20 calories per pound of body weight. Protein needs In addition to calories, you also need more protein during the healing process. Protein is a key building block of the body and is necessary for tissue growth and repair. Hydration Drinking plenty of fluids, mostly water, helps deliver nutrients to the wound site. What to eat Eat a balanced diet with a wide variety of foods Eat nutrient-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, lean fish and chicken, grains, beans, and nuts Take a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement if you don't get enough nutrients” This is from HSS.com “How many calories should I be consuming since I will be inactive? Now is NOT the time for weight loss! When people are immobilized, they worry about gaining weight. However, you should NOT decrease your calorie intake because you will be inactive. In fact, your calorie needs are now greater than usual because your body requires energy from nutritious foods to fuel the healing process. You will need to consume about 15-20 calories per pound (using your current body weight). If your overall energy and protein needs are not met, body tissues such as muscles and ligaments will begin to break down. This will compromise healing and may prolong your recovery period”

I agree if you’re meeting your protein goals you don’t need to continue with them. You can keep some on hand for emergencies if you want. Personally, I stopped them as soon as week 3 & purées began. They were disgusting! I added a high protein yoghurt to my diet which was more palatable to me. I wasn’t hitting my protein goal yet but I was close and my surgeon & dietician were okay with it. I had never intended to rely on protein shakes or powders. My plan was to get all I needed nutritionally from real food. PS: You can also make a smoothie with the yoghurt by blending a tub with milk and you can add a powdered flavour or even protein powder for additional protein if you want.

Generally, the closer you can get to a natural, whole food diet, the better. The goal is to get your protein from real food and to learn recipes and choices that will work for you forever. Having said this, it all depends what you like and what you can tolerate. Personally, I hated protein drinks but I did find a powdered one I liked and ended up having one per day at breakfast until I hit about 8 months post-op, but that was because I pre-bought a ton of the stuff on a big sale and wanted to use it up instead of wasting it. Once you can manage a Greek yogurt, a couple eggs, and 3-6 oz of meat over the course of a day, you probably don't need protein supplements.

You have been tracking your macros and measuring activity far longer than me but from my little bit of experience and what the nurse practitioner told me I would basically just cut out your extra carbs while you are being less active to maintain and then decrease your calories a bit to lose but I wouldn’t cut too too much. Your body is healing so just don’t be in too much of a hurry and be at a significant calorie deficit. We had no choice with the bariatric surgery because we had to protect our healing, intestines and stomachs with the tiny portions during recovery but it is not ideal to recover from a surgery at a such a calorie deficit. Our bodies actually need extra calories and protein for wound healing so you may actually find that your body is burning more calories than you would be if you were just being a couch potato for no reason. Just something to consider or do a little research on. The reason I say just decrease the extra carbs is because before my activity, I was eating a certain way, and then the nurse practitioner learned how active I was being from my activity logs and she told me I just needed to increase my carbs to sustain that level of activity and decrease it if I slowed down and it has worked like a charm. So basically just reversing that is what I would do if I were in your situation. You could also reach out to your dietitian or nutritionist who gave you your original macro guidelines if that is the plan that has been working for you and ask him or her what they would change given your much lower activity for the time being.

You may want to just keep them around and have them at night if there’s a day that you realize that you aren’t going to meet your protein goal. I also take them in a cooler. If I know I’m going to be having some kind of a crazy day where I may end up tempted to eat something less than ideal for lunch or whatever I’ll have that instead. And if I don’t use it, I just put it back in the fridge for the next time. They are quite tasty though, and I for a long time was having one for breakfast with coffee as an iced coffee for quite some time actually. Most doctors will agree that if you can get your protein from real food that’s preferred over something artificial, but it’s most important that you get your protein and if you need it, you need it I mean, that’s what my doctor said anyway

I think we first need to define stall here. A true stall is when your weight does not go down even after 2-3 weeks. 3 DAYS does not constitute a stall. Keep in mind that your body is made up of lots of other "stuff" besides fat. Things that can easily vary from day to day and even hour to hour besides fat: Muscle mass Water weight (did you know that your body is about 60% water?) Food weight Stool weight Of those, the biggest culprits early on are likely water weight and stool weight. The latter one because lots of people struggle with constipation early after surgery. Water weight can vary for lots of different reasons, but hormone changes, medicines, temperature differences, fluid consumption rate, stress levels, excess salt consumption, illness and low protein, potassium or magnesium intake all can contribute to water retention. I know you said you just HAD to weigh yourself daily, but if you are expecting to always see a nice linear drop in your weight day-to-day, weighing so often is probably not a great idea for you. Remember, this is for the long-haul, so don't stress small variations in your weight. It would be physiologically impossible for you to have literally stopped losing fat at this point.

If you can hit your protein goals (as given to you by your surgical team), without the drinks, there's no real reason to continue them. If, on the other hand, you need the extra protein from the drinks to hit your goals, there's nothing wrong with using them indefinitely. Said differently, there is no specific time when you need to "give them up" post surgery. I'm over two years out and still use them. That said, I'm also shooting for 150g of protein per day, which I just can't get close to without some whey protein or a fairlife drink. If you find the premade shakes to be prohibitively expensive, you could always get powdered whey protein isolate. That's generally considered the highest quality protein powder. Other even cheaper protein powders are available, such as whey protein concentrate, but those will have more fat and lactose. I think in terms of grams of protein per dollar, it would be hard to find things as cheap as powdered whey protein. Beans would probably be about the only thing I can think of, though it's hard for most of us to eat a ton of beans since while they are protein rich, beans are not particularly protein dense. Most all meat is generally a lot more expensive than whey on a gram for gram dasis. At one time, I might have put eggs in the less expensive category, but I'm not so sure anymore without running the numbers.

Most likely it’s because your body is detoxing from carbs and it’s screaming for more. Once your body is rid of them the cravings will subside and it’s actually a great deal easier. For me it’s usually almost a week before the cravings are completely gone but they get a little less with every day. For future reference too if you are like me the natural carbs like fruit and veggies don’t cause me issues or even a very small portion or brown pasta or rice, but processed carbs I have to be VERY careful with. One cookie and my body wants more. Two cookies and I’m craving carbs for a week. You can do this and it will get easier each day and even easier post surgery when your appetite is gone. If I’m busy now, I even forget to eat lunch on occasion if I’m out and i have to stay up late to have a second dinner to get all my protein and vitamins in. Soooo many people say that that preop is the hardest part of the whole process mentally. Just keep your eye on the prize. You can do this. ❤️

Hello! My surgery was September 9th, 2024, and I am still currently drinking one protein shake per day (Fairlife - 30 grams). I am wondering when I should give this up? It's not like I can't stand the drink, I actually like it still after all this time surprisingly. It's just that they are so darn expensive and kind of a pain in the rear to get (my mom orders from Sam's for me to save some $). I feel it's become a part of my normal daily routine but when did everyone else give them up?? It's been almost 5 months now.

Hi guys, I had my Sleeve 9 days ago, and am averaging 430 cals per day. Trying to get my 2 litres of water, but mostly 1.5 or so. Still on liquid diet, having one shake in the morning and 2 x 125ml (half cup) serves of home made soup with protein powder for lunch/dinner. At first the weight was falling off at .5kg (1lb) or more a day. but the last 3 days it hasn't dropped, in fact this morning it was 200 gm (half lb) up. Not panicking, I know that there will be stalls, but I didn't think at this early stage 🥲 I also know I probs shouldn't weigh everyday, but I *have* to 😝 Today I thought I might try to up the cal intake a bit and get a bit more steps in. Anyone else have this so early?

Thank you I’m sorry about your mom. It’s so hard to wait to get help and especially hard to see your loved ones have to wait. I definitely avoid eggs lol they don’t make me throw up but they do cause other issues eggs, lactose except for hard cheeses, chicken - except when it’s ground up, pork, anything fried, salad dressing, mayo, steak, and a lot of beef, protein shakes, protein bars, nuts, corn, onions, juices, oranges, avocado, most turkey, products, and turkey itself, pineapple, any food product from Starbucks - I am 100% sure this is preservative oriented, broccoli, carrots, lettuce, spinach (sometimes can tolerate cooked) I’m not really interested in sympathy, but you can tell there’s not a whole lot left. This is pretty much why I am now affected less than I was because having figured out the list I do end up eating something from the list eventually as I have no choice or I won’t eat. I’m sure I’m missing 10 or 15 items. I would think if it was a parasite my blood work would not be as good as it is. And my blood pressure is 120/72. I’m considering trying a protein shake that is clear to see if the other things that are in them causing the issue or if it’s actually protein but mostly, I’m just looking forward to getting a colonoscopy and an endoscopy to find out what the hell is going on

You're on vacation. There are no rules on vacation, especially 13 years post-op. Having said that, protein first as always. The rest can wait until you get home. I've never had an issue finding tolerable foods and I dump on sugars and fats, so more restrictive than most. Cruises are known for their volume and variety of food. They even cater to different diets. You'd really have to work pretty hard to have a problem. Good luck, Tek

Tonight's Lovely liquid delight - Home made Satay Pumpkin Bone broken soup with added tasteless protein. 125ml serve = 49 cals 😲 😎 I have been having some pain like trapped wind when liquid hits my stomach the last few days, I think I have been eating too quickly 😪

Most of the comfort foods that I prefer are not exactly on plan. Chili or chicken chili are nice for the cold weather though and they’re on my plan. I also like quiche. I found one at Walmart by the deli that is made with egg whites so it’s less calories. Of course it’s still a little high in fat because it’s got full milk cheese but considering it’s a prepared food that’s fairly inexpensive It’s reasonable macros. I definitely have to be sure to have like just a protein shake for breakfast and then something really reasonable for dinner like chicken breast or fish with veggies. Anyways, if you consider it what I do is just slice it up while it’s cold and then heat one slice in the oven at a time so it’s nice and crispy and good. I’ve not tried freezing yet cause I’m not sure if it’s safe to freeze eggs like that. I know you can’t freeze raw eggs but I don’t know about eggs that are in something. Seems like the texture would not be the same. Anyways, I hope everyone. Find a way to stay relatively warm and not let this cold weather mess us up too bad.

It probably depends a lot on what your normal diet looks like. If, for example, you normally drink protein shakes and want to continue having those, then you could take protein powder that you mix with water or milk. Honestly though, if this is just a week or two, why worry about it? I'd say go have fun and eat whatever you want on the cruise. If when you get back home you find your weight has creeped up, just reduce your intake a bit for a while until you get back to your current weight (assuming you like being at your current weight).

I’m 13 years post-op and pretty much have my hacks for getting in the amount of protein that I need to stay healthy and strong. However, I have booked a cruise for the fall and am concerned about how I will do that without my usual routines? Any tips that don’t require taking half a suitcase of protein shakes with me? LOL

I think the way I'd put it it's best to is nail down your calories first, then depending on your goals, you can tweak your macros to better accomplish your goals. Since you're looking to drop a few more pounds and limited in terms of workouts right now, I'd probably recommend something more like this: 1600-1700 total calories a day. You could go as low as 1400 or so, but you may feel lousy if you do, so don't go that low for more than 2-3 weeks at a time. Target ~1.5 grams per kg of protein, or more. Thus ~115 grams minimum. If you are not struggling to get up to say 150 grams or so, that certainly won't hurt and may help you feel better. Fats around 70 or so should be just fine and will mean you're likely to be less hungry. You can go lower if you're comfortable doing so, but it will likely mean you're hungrier. Don't go below about 50 grams. Whatever's left over, make up for in carbs.

@SpartanMaker I am not wanting to lose weight really, I am at maintenance however since I got PS surgery I am on the higher end of my maintenance and I would really like to get down to 160-165 as opposed to 165-170. I know not much of a difference especially with my height and build but in my head it makes me feel better. LOL When I was working out (which I will get back into hopefully soon) I was eating anywhere from 2200-2400 calories and staying in that 160-165 number, now I am eating anywhere from 1700-2000 and I am on the 165-170 end. I have to assume that my lack of working out is keeping me where I am at. Which I do want to recomp, I want to get a 360 body lift but want to see how lean I could get before making that decision. I may just want to save the money and pain if I look decent enough LOL For reference yesterday my day was 1961 calories, 185g carbs, 175g protein, 72g fat, 34g fiber. If I was working out and burning 700-800 calories like I was then this is great I would stay at the lower end of my maintenance. But what I am gathering I should be focusing more on the carbs, protein and fat as opposed to calories?